Animal Magnetism
by Kerrison
Summary: He's flipped around and now they're polar opposites. She refuses to think all hope is lost. After all, she was flipped around for a while, too.


_**Author's Note: **Just a quickie one-shot as a follow up to _Three Hearts. _Thanks to Jen, as always, for being an amazing beta and even better friend. _

* * *

A stroll through the trinket-filled tourist shops down near the beach had not been on her to-do-list that evening, but in all fairness, having Deeks burst her bubble was not on the agenda, either.

Going to her silent home and finding television programs with little to no entertainment value and fridge empty of microwave meals and nutritionally-empty snacks held little appeal. She allowed herself an evening of self pity, pouting, aimless strolling, window shopping, and a very unhealthy chocolate cone with sprinkles.

Kensi's feet stuttered to a stop in front of the colorful exterior of the toy-store.

She hadn't been able to hold back the chuckle that seemed to spontaneously bubble from deep in her chest.

It was perfect.

With barely a second thought, she sacrificed her ice cream cone to the nearby trashcan and made a beeline inside, scooping her prize off the shelf.

***

His desk wasn't anywhere near as cluttered as hers, but the small brown plushie had been delicately secured on the corner of his desk in a manner that made it _almost _disappear into the rest of the desk-detritus.

The acrylic fur was light brown. The bushy tail had black rings and there was a black mask across the eyes. Delicately shaped paws held a pink satin heart.

"MAX" had been scrawled in Sharpie in Kensi's distinctive penmanship across the pink heart.

Deeks regarded the stuffed toy with caution and a hint of wry amusement.

It had been one hell of a silent weekend. Before her assignment, he couldn't recall the last time they'd spent the weekend apart. It was either surfing, movies, dinner, or just something -_anything - _they'd come up with to give them an excuse to spend time together outside of OSP.

But this weekend? After he had given in to his fears and backed away from their Thing? This weekend had been awfully quiet and Kensi free. And worry over how things would be at work today had niggled at him until he had lost sleep and spent more time wiping out on his morning surf than riding the curls.

He let his bag fall into his desk chair, palmed the toy and glanced up, giving her the same curious look but with a hint of uncertainty hooding his features.

Kensi's eyes barely lifted from the paperwork she was filling out.

She flicked her wrist and her pen nudged a plushie of her own out into visibility. This raccoon sported a purple bow behind its ear.

Deeks' eyes flicked between the two dolls and he suddenly registered their somewhat snubbed snouts - not in keeping with how an _actual _racoons' nose would be shaped.

His fingers traced the 'Max-coon's' nose and he felt the firm, immovable object under the snout. He set it next to her racoon and watched her continue to complete her report.

"When magnetic poles face the wrong way, they repel each other," she uttered, scrawling her name on the bottom of the page before setting that copy of the report in the corner pile of her desk and moving her attention to the next page.

Deeks felt his brow furrow as he listened to the abbreviated fifth grade science lecture in the middle of the bullpen while looking at stuffed raccoon dolls.

"But if you just flip the magnets around so the opposite poles face each other," she nudged the heart-bearing racoon with the end of her pen, causing the two plushies to tip towards each other, their magnetic snouts clicking together in a little stuffed-animal kiss. "They attract."

"Kensi-"

"You're flipped around, Deeks," she said simply, setting her pen down and resting her chin on her elbow-propped hand.

He blinked at her and she shrugged in reply. "And that's ok. I've spent my fair share of time flipped around."

Deeks watched as she reached over and tugged the two raccoons apart. She smiled at them, setting the very girlie raccoon back on the corner of her desk and holding his out towards him.

"When you get flipped back the right way, you should let me know."

He took the raccoon from her outstretched hand before heading back to his desk. He placed the raccoon next to his monitor, a location which kept it almost constantly in his line of sight.

She couldn't have made it more clear.

It was her turn to be patient and understanding as he worked through his fears.

It was her turn to sit on the shores of the frozen lake and silently pray while he tiptoed across, inches at a time.

He looked up and found her polychrome eyes watching him, her look nothing but caring and kind. There wasn't an ounce of pressure or urgency in her features and that fact alone eased the tension which weighed on him all weekend.

He managed a grin and a small nod her way and received the same in return. She returned to her reports and he tapped his space bar, bringing his screen to life.

His gaze fell to the small brown plushie and he knew that it wasn't a question of 'if' but rather 'when' his poles got flipped back around. Kensi would walk in to find the two dolls on her desk, their magnetic snouts holding them together.


End file.
